2008 Trends to Watch
Industry analyst firm Health Industry Insights released their 2008 healthcare IT predictions. Business intelligence tops the list. Their announcement discusses how data integration and interoperability will continue to drive major shifts in IT spending. These initiatives will be sharpened by an industry focus on cost containment, process improvements, and improved patient outcomes. Listed below are key highlights from their provider and payer top ten trends.
U.S. Provider 2008 Top 10 Predictions identifies major trends that will impact the provider IT landscape in 2008. The industry is approaching a critical turning point whereby delivery models and applications are increasingly accessible and easier to use providing much needed data exchange and interoperability. Providers need to examine opportunities to expand EMR investments as this is becoming a key requirement in the inpatient and ambulatory care setting. Health Industry Insights also predicts that providers should keep an eye on Health 2.0 as it is changing the way consumers interact with healthcare information.
U.S. Payer 2008 Top 10 Predictions reflect a volatile and changing business and technology environment, with investment planned in multiple traditional areas and new initiatives, rather than the more single-themed focus of some previous years (e.g., HIPAA, consumerism, the collaborative business model). Business intelligence, prioritized investment on consumer information management and transaction tools, as well as "extra-enterprise" technology investment emerge as overarching themes and areas of the greatest investment in the next 12-18 months. Fragmentation and high technology costs will continue as the U.S. healthcare payer market technology investment encompasses over 50% of the total worldwide healthcare payer IT spend.
Health Industry Insights’ Top 10 predictions across the industry sectors include:
- Business intelligence and related information management are leading categories of technology spending increases in 2008 across all segments
- Outsourcing seen as instrumental as the focus on cost reduction continues to increase
- Drug safety will remain front and center as a primary concern in 2008
- SaaS (software as a service) will spur adoption of EMR's for small providers
- Healthcare/financial services interface and competition will heat up in 2008 as healthcare payers shift costs and payment responsibilities to consumers
- "Extra-enterprise" investments become mainstream as over 40% of healthcare payers report technology investments for use by consumers and providers
- Retail clinics and their technology will proliferate, increasingly disrupting healthcare delivery
"We predict there will be accelerated investment in 2008 in the Business Intelligence segment with spending growing more than 13% over the next 12-18 months," said Scott Lundstrom, vice president of Research, Health Industry Insights. "In addition, the healthcare industry should anticipate more innovative use of Web 2.0 technologies in healthcare by mainstream technology vendors and niche companies over the next 12-24 months."
Tags: 2008+Predictions, EHR, Electronic+Medical+Records, EMR, Health+2.0, Health+Industry+Insights, Healthcare+PR, Medical+PR, Online+PR, PPMPosted by Shawn Whalen on January 14, 2008 at 10:32 AM
Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
